Department of Applied Biochemistry, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Japan.
Published: June 2014
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Ficolins constitute a group of lectins involved in innate immunity. L-Ficolin, H-ficolin, and M-ficolin are present in human serum. The human ficolins differ in carbohydrate-binding specificity, but they have in common the ability to recognize the acetyl group. L-Ficolin and H-ficolin are associated with serine proteases termed MASPs (MBL-associated serine proteases) and their truncated proteins, and the complexes (L/H-ficolin-MASP) activate the lectin pathway of complement upon binding to their ligands. Recombinant M-ficolin is also able to form a complex with MASP, resulting in complement activation. L-Ficolin and H-ficolin can be purified as a complex with MASP from serum by utilizing their binding specificities. These ficolin-MASP complexes have an ability to activate C4. Human ficolins are quantified by ELISA using specific antibodies or ligands.
The study aimed to understand how a specific genetic variation (SNP) in the FCN gene influences the risk of pre-eclampsia (PE) in pregnant Han nationality women, comparing 274 women with PE to 154 healthy controls.
Results showed that women with PE had significantly higher levels of body mass index, blood pressure, and various blood biochemical indicators compared to the control group.
In genotyping 23 SNP loci, the distribution of specific loci in the FCN2 and FCN3 genes showed significant differences between the two groups, suggesting a genetic component to PE susceptibility.
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Clinical Medicine, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan, China.
- Ficolins are proteins linked to immune system function and are being studied in relation to interstitial lung diseases, particularly focusing on ficolin-1's unclear role in pulmonary fibrosis.
- Research found that ficolin-1 levels are lower in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD), and in a mouse model, lack of ficolin-B worsened lung damage while overproduction helped protect against it.
- Ficolin-1 directly interacts with TGF-β1, a key factor in fibrosis, suggesting that targeting ficolin-1 could provide new therapeutic options for treating lung fibrosis.
* Using various bioinformatics tools and laboratory techniques, the study analyzed FCN1, FCN2, and FCN3 in lung cancer subtypes, finding that their expressions were significantly lower in tumor tissues and that they showed promise as diagnostic and prognostic markers.
* Results indicated that FCN2 and FCN3 correlate negatively with overall survival in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), while FCN1 and FCN2 correlate positively in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), and FCNs are linked to immune
A human lectin array has been developed to probe the interactions of innate immune receptors with pathogenic and commensal microorganisms. Following the successful introduction of a lectin array containing all of the cow C-type carbohydrate-recognition domains (CRDs), a human array described here contains the C-type CRDs as well as CRDs from other classes of sugar-binding receptors, including galectins, siglecs, R-type CRDs, ficolins, intelectins, and chitinase-like lectins. The array is constructed with CRDs modified with single-site biotin tags, ensuring that the sugar-binding sites in CRDs are displayed on a streptavidin-coated surface in a defined orientation and are accessible to the surfaces of microbes.
Background: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists are a viable option for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD) but the mechanisms of this potential disease modifying action are unclear. We investigated the effects of once-weekly exenatide (EQW) on AD associated proteomic clusters.
Methods: The Exenatide Study of Cardiovascular Event Lowering study compared the cardiovascular effects of EQW 2 mg with placebo in 13,752 people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
